[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 540 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 540
Recognizing the historical significance of the sloop-of-war USS
Constellation as a reminder of the participation of the United States
in the transatlantic slave trade and of the efforts of the United
States to end the slave trade.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 29, 2008
Ms. Mikulski (for herself and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the historical significance of the sloop-of-war USS
Constellation as a reminder of the participation of the United States
in the transatlantic slave trade and of the efforts of the United
States to end the slave trade.
Whereas, on September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was
adopted, and article I, section 9 declared that Congress could prohibit
the importation of slaves into the United States in the year 1808;
Whereas, in 1794, the United States Congress passed ``An Act to prohibit the
carrying on the Slave Trade from the United States to any foreign place
or country'', approved March 22, 1794 (1 Stat. 347), thus beginning the
efforts of the United States to halt the slave trade;
Whereas, on May 10, 1800, Congress enacted a law that outlawed all participation
by people in the United States in the international trafficking of
slaves and authorized the United States Navy to seize vessels flying the
flag of the United States engaged in the slave trade;
Whereas, on March 2, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed into law ``An Act
to prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the
jurisdiction of the United States, from and after the first of January,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight'' (2 Stat.
426);
Whereas, on January 1, 1808, the prohibition on the importation of slaves into
the United States took effect;
Whereas, on March 3, 1819, Congress authorized the Navy to cruise the coast of
Africa to suppress the slave trade, declaring that Africans on captured
ships be placed under Federal jurisdiction and authorizing the President
to appoint an agent in Africa to facilitate the return of captured
Africans to the continent;
Whereas, in 1819, the Royal Navy of Great Britain established the West Coast of
Africa as a separate naval station and actively plied the waters in
pursuit of slave ships, and Great Britain negotiated with many other
countries to obtain the right to search vessels suspected of engaging in
the slave trade;
Whereas, on May 15, 1820, Congress declared the trading of slaves to be an act
of piracy and that those convicted of trading slaves were subject to the
death penalty;
Whereas the Webster-Ashburton Treaty between Great Britain and the United
States, signed August 9, 1842, provided that both countries would
maintain separate naval squadrons on the coast of Africa to enforce
their respective laws against the slave trade;
Whereas, in 1843, the newly formed United States African Squadron sailed for
Africa and remained in operation until the Civil War erupted in 1861;
Whereas, in 1859, the USS Constellation, the last all-sail vessel designed and
built by the United States Navy, sailed to West Africa as the flagship
of the United States African Squadron, which consisted of 8 ships,
including 4 steam-powered vessels suitable for chasing down and
capturing slave ships;
Whereas, on December 21, 1859, the USS Constellation captured the brig Delicia
after a 10-hour chase, and although the Delicia had no human cargo on
board upon capture, the crew had been preparing the ship to take on
slaves;
Whereas, on the night of September 25, 1860, the USS Constellation spotted the
barque Cora near the mouth of the Congo River and, after a dramatic
moonlit chase, captured the slave ship with 705 Africans crammed into
her permanent ``slave deck'';
Whereas after capturing the Cora, a detachment of the Constellation's crew
sailed the surviving Africans to Monrovia, Liberia, a colony founded for
the settlement of free African-Americans, which became the destination
for all Africans freed on slave ships captured by the United States
Navy;
Whereas, on May 21, 1861, the USS Constellation captured the brig Triton, and
although the Triton did not have Africans captured for slavery on board
when intercepted by the Constellation, a search confirmed that the ship
had been prepared to take on slaves;
Whereas the Triton, registered in Charleston, South Carolina, was one of the
first Union naval captures of the Civil War;
Whereas, from 1859 to 1861, the USS Constellation and the United States African
Squadron captured 14 slave ships and liberated nearly 4,000 Africans
destined for a life of servitude in the Americas, a record unsurpassed
by the squadron under previous commanders; and
Whereas, on September 25, 2008, the USS Constellation Museum will hold a
ceremony to commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition of the
transatlantic slave trade aboard the same ship that, 148 years before,
forced the capitulation of the slave ship Cora and freed the 705
Africans confined within: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the historical and educational significance
of the USS Constellation, a 153-year-old warship berthed in
Baltimore, Maryland, as a reminder of both the participation of
the United States in the slave trade and the efforts of the
United States Government to suppress the inhumane practice;
(2) applauds the preservation of the historic vessel and
the efforts of the USS Constellation Museum to engage people
from all over the world with this vital part of our history;
and
(3) supports the USS Constellation as an appropriate site
for the Nation to commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition
of the transatlantic slave trade in 2008.
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